Lily
by Sparkly Red Slippers
Summary: You are not a Potter." James Potter told Harry Not-Potter. Onesided JPHP
1. James

A/N: Boredom does things to me. Also any HMNH readers will have to wait _forever_ for an update. I'm actually taking it down for a while so no one gets their hopes up.

Summary: "You are not a Potter." James Potter told Harry Not-Potter. One-sided JamesxHarry.

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"You are not a Potter." James Potter told Harry Not-Potter firmly. He knew the time for this was coming. James inwardly cursed that smarmy Malfoy for always calling his son Potter.

It just made everything so much harder.

The hurt and confused look in Harry's sweet green eyes – _Lily's eyes_ – nearly made James apologize and sweep his oldest and most naïve son into a hug and declare that he was only joking and would he pretty please play Quidditch with him?

He managed to keep the words tumbling from his mouth and stammered out, "Don't let that greasy hair ball get to you, Bambi. You aren't a real Potter." James winced and realized this wasn't the most comforting thing to say. Harry's lips thinned and he slowly stood up straight his hands crossed over his chest just like his mother.

_Bloody hell._ James thought. _I haven't buggered things up this badly since I asked Lily out the first time! _The look Harry was giving him made him a squirm a little bit. He felt 14 all over again.

Before Harry could shoot him with a Stinging Hex, one of the cons of Harry being of age, James rushed to explain himself. "You're not like all the other Potters Harry. Erm, you're more like your mother." He managed to mumble out the end instead of choking on the words like he thought he would. There he said it."You're an Evans."

And James would know. He would stare at his deceased wife's portrait all day long and wonder if Harry was actually Lily reincarnated.

Harry – sweet sweet Harry – gave him a look that said 'Prove it.' and 'Are you bloody insane?' When James didn't do anything to support or dispute the look, Harry turned on his heel and marched away.

James winced when he heard something shatter. Lily always broke something delicate when she was angry as well.


	2. Harry

A/n: I didn't think I was going to write a chapter 2

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Harry wished his Dad wasn't so obvious. If he wasn't so obvious he might be able to forgive him. But he wasn't so Harry couldn't forgive him.

Harry saw the way his father looked at him. He wouldn't look at Daniel and Connor the same way. At first Harry just thought it was because he was the oldest.

Then Moony showed him pictures of his Mom and Dad.

He was fascinated of course. There were few pictures of his Mom around and he wanted to know more about her. He knew he had his mother's eyes and talent in Charms but that was it really.

Harry found it sweet how his Dad would always have his arm wrapped around his mother's waist, his gaze hardly straying from his mother's face. From what Padfoot told him, that was difficult, since his father had been quite vain.

Then he noticed it was the same look he received multiple times. He had paled visibly and Moony, always being a mother, had asked, "Is there something wrong Harry? I'm pretty sure I took out all the pictures with the Rat in them."

"It's nothing Remus, really." Harry smiled weakly and kept flipping through the pictures , sweating throughout the whole process with a worried Remus peering over his shoulder.

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A week later, Harry was standing in front of the only portrait of his mother. Lily stared at him green eyes burning a hole in his face. "Is there something you need? I don't know how you even got here, the office is supposed to be password protected and James didn't say anything about telling someone else the password."

Harry left 10 minutes later knowing the woman in the portrait did not resemble his mother.

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James was staring at him again. He could always tell, a crawling sensation always made its way up his spine when he did. It never failed to remind him Snape and his own hateful glares.

Snape wanted him to be James.

James wanted him to be Lily.

Lily didn't want anything. She was dead.

Idly, he wondered when 'Dad' changed to 'James' and 'Mom' to 'Lily'. Did it really matter? It's not like he could fix the problem.

After all, he couldn't be Lily.


	3. Woman in the Portrait

A/n: Whoa, I was not expecting so many alerts and faves man. You guys rock.

Warning: Hyphen abuse

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Lily Evans straightened herself out and adopted the feigned indifference she wore whenever someone came by. She often did her best to look bland, in hopes that James would lose interest in her and lure him into the mindset that Harry was just as boring.

No such luck. Harry wouldn't cooperate.

James shuffled into his office, face pale and smiling tightly when he caught sight of her.

Lily was careful to keep her face blank."Welcome James," her voice neutral. He gave a nod and she swung open to give him access to the storage area she guarded.

He was a strange man, always rifling through letters and photo albums. Lily wondered if he had anything else to do.

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Lily heard footsteps for once, instead of the tired shuffle. She resumed the stiff posture she used when she heard the shuffle.

_Oh_.

She knew this was her son. He held himself proudly and despite his short stature he looked to be a thousand feet tall. It reminded her of how she held herself in Hogwarts, or what her portrait self remembered, in front of the Marauders. Her eyes warmed for a fraction of a second, and then they turned into the passive polite front she adopted.

"Is there something you need?"

And she knew from the disappointed face, that Harry was expecting something so much more fierily.

She knew she was cold. What could you expect from a portrait?

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The Woman in the Painting knew people were irrational. She knew this from her observations of her could-have-been family.

Daniel and Connor always expected Harry to drop everything and indulge them.

Harry expected her to give advice, to let him know the why.

James expected Harry to breathe for him just like the Used-to-Be Lily Evans had.


	4. Healer Monore Knows

A/n: Erm, the end I guess. If anyone asks for more, I'll probably submit it under a different story and it'll probably turn into a JamesxHarry story or I might not. So speak now or forever hold your peace.

Also I should probably give you a timeline: Harry is 20, the Twins are 18, and James is 40. The last couple of chapters took place over the summer when Harry was 18. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hello James." Harry said quietly sipping his tea hoping that they could avoid talking about anything and everything. He hated these monthly tea sessions. The Mind Healer suggested they have these chats so Harry could find out how his father was doing. Daniel and Connor couldn't report to him about his father's session with the Mind Healer as Harry had decided that they shouldn't know about their problem.

His father gave a small smile and leaned forward to serve himself a cup. "Hello Harry." He was avoiding his eyes.

10 minutes were spent in silence and Harry kept his eyes firmly locked on his Earl Grey tea. He still felt the crawling sensation when James looked at him, but it was getting better. Harry didn't know if it was because his father wasn't looking at him the same way or if he was getting used to the stares.

Both options unsettled him.

"Erm, so . . ." Harry cleared his throat, "How are your sessions with Healer Monroe? He told me you were making progress, but he didn't say exactly how."

James gave him a grimace. "I'm not exactly sure either, but he said I was."

Harry wondered if it had to do with the stares as he sipped his Earl Grey tea.

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Sorry I left it like that. But I couldn't think of a more suitable ending. I feel like writing a sequel so I think I will for those who wanted more. It'll definitely be longer than this.

It's being called Earl Grey Tea and it's going to be about their monthly tea sessions pretty much. I might make it slash. It depends on what the readers think, so I'll be setting up a poll.


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